My Mom and elder brother were in town for the weekend. Brother for research for his next book, Mom for her birthday. Darling and I bought her cake (after a brief baking mishap) and cider and had two home-cooked dinners with family. I made lunch on Sunday and spent the evening with friends.
I've been hanging out, off and on, with a certain group of people for over ten years now. We've been "on again" quite successfully recently, and the chemistry is so great that I admit that leaving them is the most difficult aspect of this trip. That and, you know, packing. Anyway, yesterday two of those friends were out of town and actually used Skype to participate with us. It took a while to get used to, but I was amazed by the end result: we'd had almost as much fun as if all of us were in the same room.
I don't think that skype will be possible for us while on the bike ride, and I know it won't be possible on the following two weeks of intensive off-grid living program, but otherwise it looks like technology could really keep us together and that makes me really happy :)
Now all I have to do is get the laptop repaired before leaving town.
Also on the list of repair/buy before hitting the road:
* Contacts (for emergencies, I'll be wearing my glasses, but if something were to happen to them I'd be helplessly blind)
* My Bike (somethings wrong with the pedal deelie, and since it's very definitely a street bike I'd like to see if I can get thicker tires for the gravel-country roads we'll be riding down)
*Darling's bike, a general tune up
*Patch kits and spare tubes, allen keys
* Helmets and new bike lights, set up for panniers, bike gloves
* Small tent and sleeping pad
* Get a cell phone that holds a charge for more than six minutes
I've rented a truck tomorrow to get donations moving out of the room, help me run errands, and also help another friend move. Everything is going smoothly.
Showing posts with label Car-Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Car-Free. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Fuel To The Fire
Last week I took my Mom's truck to the dealership to take advantage of the free - or rather, pre-paid - maintenance plan. This includes oil change, tire rotation, and general check up, and all I need is a quarter tank of gas to get there.
I had already purchased a new windshield wiper to install at home when the customer rep told me my A/C filter and fuel filter were in desperate need of replacement. Without thinking, I gave him the go-ahead, and within minutes was over $125 poorer. Not including the gas.
It took days for me to realize what a foolish move that was. I just took for granted that the dealership would give me the best deal because...well, how could it not? Seems like they must get some massive discount from the manufacturer on parts, have the most efficient mechanics, and the incentive to convince customers to come back.
But no. Googling "Toyota Tundra Parts," led me to a number of websites that would have happily sold me the exact same filters and windshield wiper at half the cost. I would have saved $45 on parts alone. I might not have been able to replace the filters at home, but I bet I could have looked around for a mechanic to do the fifteen minutes worth of labor for less than $70.
More importantly, I could have found a mechanic who might have explained WHY my fuel filter needed to be replaced in the first place, when according to internet sources this isn't the most common occurrence in the world. Supposedly these things should last the lifetime of the truck, depending on use. The truck is five years old, for goodness sakes, and has had its oil changed regularly for the past three, and how did it get so dirty so quickly? I don't suspect the guy necessarily lied, but now I have to wonder if there is a problem somewhere else in the engine.
Bah. Reason 109485234058 not to depend on a vehicle.
I had already purchased a new windshield wiper to install at home when the customer rep told me my A/C filter and fuel filter were in desperate need of replacement. Without thinking, I gave him the go-ahead, and within minutes was over $125 poorer. Not including the gas.
It took days for me to realize what a foolish move that was. I just took for granted that the dealership would give me the best deal because...well, how could it not? Seems like they must get some massive discount from the manufacturer on parts, have the most efficient mechanics, and the incentive to convince customers to come back.
But no. Googling "Toyota Tundra Parts," led me to a number of websites that would have happily sold me the exact same filters and windshield wiper at half the cost. I would have saved $45 on parts alone. I might not have been able to replace the filters at home, but I bet I could have looked around for a mechanic to do the fifteen minutes worth of labor for less than $70.
More importantly, I could have found a mechanic who might have explained WHY my fuel filter needed to be replaced in the first place, when according to internet sources this isn't the most common occurrence in the world. Supposedly these things should last the lifetime of the truck, depending on use. The truck is five years old, for goodness sakes, and has had its oil changed regularly for the past three, and how did it get so dirty so quickly? I don't suspect the guy necessarily lied, but now I have to wonder if there is a problem somewhere else in the engine.
Bah. Reason 109485234058 not to depend on a vehicle.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Another Job Well Done
Darling finished up the job in Temple, Texas on Friday. He's been given a couple of weeks off before his next project just outside of Austin begins. Goodness knows we both needed a break from his crazy commute!
We both took the weekend totally off. Yesterday I devoted several hours to cleaning the bedroom, which has been pretty neglected for a couple of months now. It's so nice to have a totally cleared floor, dresser full of clean clothes, and made bed :) I also made a potato soup for lunch, then we had dinner and games with friends in the evening, and this morning I made a lemon-blueberry-almond scones for breakfast.
Tomorrow I go into work, as per normal, and in fact have a week of overtime to look forward to. Yet, for whatever reason, knowing Darling is basically on vacation makes this particular weekend especially sweet.
Of course the sudden dip in income comes at a most inopportune time. Coupled with May's rent due in a couple of weeks, I've got pretty much zero chance at making my goal of total debt freedom in the next eight days. And I'm so close. My last $500 payment will put our debt at around $2,300. I could have made a larger payment, but we spent so much of last week scraping by...I just didn't want Darling's vacation to feel like a big struggle, you know? I mean, all he's going to do is hang out and cook and relax anyway, but he's earned a period of stress-freedom. That's probably why it felt so important to me to give the bedroom a good clean up together this weekend, so he wouldn't be obligated to tackle that mess alone.
My Car2Go membership card finally arrived, so we are going to transition away from using the truck very soon. Driving everywhere has become such a way of life for us that I predict some friction. Fortunately, things are relatively stable at my job, and Darling has contacts at his new worksite. I want to hold onto the truck long enough to pay for some repairs and get the oil changed, which means I want to hold onto it a couple of weeks after reaching debt freedom. This gives us plenty of time to work out any kinks in our carpool plan. And in a few months there will be an entirely new set of challenges for us to work out, but we can approach them from a decidedly car-free perspective.
We both took the weekend totally off. Yesterday I devoted several hours to cleaning the bedroom, which has been pretty neglected for a couple of months now. It's so nice to have a totally cleared floor, dresser full of clean clothes, and made bed :) I also made a potato soup for lunch, then we had dinner and games with friends in the evening, and this morning I made a lemon-blueberry-almond scones for breakfast.
Tomorrow I go into work, as per normal, and in fact have a week of overtime to look forward to. Yet, for whatever reason, knowing Darling is basically on vacation makes this particular weekend especially sweet.
Of course the sudden dip in income comes at a most inopportune time. Coupled with May's rent due in a couple of weeks, I've got pretty much zero chance at making my goal of total debt freedom in the next eight days. And I'm so close. My last $500 payment will put our debt at around $2,300. I could have made a larger payment, but we spent so much of last week scraping by...I just didn't want Darling's vacation to feel like a big struggle, you know? I mean, all he's going to do is hang out and cook and relax anyway, but he's earned a period of stress-freedom. That's probably why it felt so important to me to give the bedroom a good clean up together this weekend, so he wouldn't be obligated to tackle that mess alone.
My Car2Go membership card finally arrived, so we are going to transition away from using the truck very soon. Driving everywhere has become such a way of life for us that I predict some friction. Fortunately, things are relatively stable at my job, and Darling has contacts at his new worksite. I want to hold onto the truck long enough to pay for some repairs and get the oil changed, which means I want to hold onto it a couple of weeks after reaching debt freedom. This gives us plenty of time to work out any kinks in our carpool plan. And in a few months there will be an entirely new set of challenges for us to work out, but we can approach them from a decidedly car-free perspective.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Paying Debt, Garden Veggies, Car-Sharing...the Usual
I now owe less than $6,000 in student debt!
I've been paying debt compulsively for weeks now, and learned three days ago that one can only make eight electronic payments to my creditors in a single month. That is also how I discovered my tendency to make, on average, two payments a week. The reason I only make two payments a week is that they take approximately 72 business days to process, and I don't like having them stack up while waiting for them to hit my bank account.
OTHER stuff is happening in my life, believe it or not. Very mundane, boring sorts of stuff, but I should mention it because my life is slightly more balanced than my blog might lead one to believe. For instance, I'm still cooking, and recently discovered the joy of stir-fry sauces. I now make a killer ginger-orange sauce, green curry coconut sauce, brown sauce, and spicy peanut satay, and therefore have no reason to eat anything else.
The house garden is out of control. We are overwhelmed by beets and beet greens, broccoli, kale, snow peas, and the like. People keep coming to the house and, when gifted with a bag of veggies, make comments like, "y'know, you can eat every part of the broccoli plant." Yessss. You can also eat nothing but broccoli for three meals a day this time of year, but even that gets old. Take this out of my sight!
Darling has started waking up a little earlier than me and making lunch for us in the morning, mostly because I am not a ray of sunshine before dawn. His own work leaves him too tired in the evening to make dinner, which I already mentioned, so I guess we're even. Even though we bought his computer a week ago, he still hasn't had time to put it together! He's hoping to this afternoon.
I'm really desperate to find a solution to this vehicle situation. Today someone said to me, by way of introduction (because, being the only woman amongst six hundred men, it is important for each one to know me on a personal level), "So you like driving trucks." And he said it so knowingly, so confidently. What do you do? How could I turn to him and say that not only do I dislike driving trucks, but I hate driving with a passion, every day I hate it a little more, every hour in traffic is agony, every bleary morning is terrifying, every visit to the gas station another stab in the gut? How could I say that the series of assumptions he might have already made about me, whatever formulaic response his brain makes to compute Pretty Girl + Big Truck, is wrong. That on top of all the other automatic assumptions the men make about me, my life, my marriage, my values, my principles, I have to smile wanly and respond, "yes, I drive a truck."
I have moved across town and across the country without the use of a car. I have borrowed vehicles for road trips. I have gone grocery shopping on foot, by bus, and by cab. Never before have I found myself unable to find an alternative to car-ownership. And there is an expiration date on borrowing my Mom's truck.
I've mentioned both ZipCar and Car2Go and spent a good deal of time researching both to find the better bargain or alternative. My attempts to find a transportation solution have included researching the price and possibilities of traditional car-pooling, daily cab rides, craigslist carshare, and capmetro's vanpool. I can say with disappointing confidence that there is absolutely NO perfect solution. But my shiny new Car2Go membership might prove to be slightly more perfect than indefinitely using Mom's car. I'm pretty excited to get my card in the next couple of days. If all goes well, the truck (and a $1,000 debt repayment) will go home with Mom next week!
I've been paying debt compulsively for weeks now, and learned three days ago that one can only make eight electronic payments to my creditors in a single month. That is also how I discovered my tendency to make, on average, two payments a week. The reason I only make two payments a week is that they take approximately 72 business days to process, and I don't like having them stack up while waiting for them to hit my bank account.
OTHER stuff is happening in my life, believe it or not. Very mundane, boring sorts of stuff, but I should mention it because my life is slightly more balanced than my blog might lead one to believe. For instance, I'm still cooking, and recently discovered the joy of stir-fry sauces. I now make a killer ginger-orange sauce, green curry coconut sauce, brown sauce, and spicy peanut satay, and therefore have no reason to eat anything else.
The house garden is out of control. We are overwhelmed by beets and beet greens, broccoli, kale, snow peas, and the like. People keep coming to the house and, when gifted with a bag of veggies, make comments like, "y'know, you can eat every part of the broccoli plant." Yessss. You can also eat nothing but broccoli for three meals a day this time of year, but even that gets old. Take this out of my sight!
Darling has started waking up a little earlier than me and making lunch for us in the morning, mostly because I am not a ray of sunshine before dawn. His own work leaves him too tired in the evening to make dinner, which I already mentioned, so I guess we're even. Even though we bought his computer a week ago, he still hasn't had time to put it together! He's hoping to this afternoon.
I'm really desperate to find a solution to this vehicle situation. Today someone said to me, by way of introduction (because, being the only woman amongst six hundred men, it is important for each one to know me on a personal level), "So you like driving trucks." And he said it so knowingly, so confidently. What do you do? How could I turn to him and say that not only do I dislike driving trucks, but I hate driving with a passion, every day I hate it a little more, every hour in traffic is agony, every bleary morning is terrifying, every visit to the gas station another stab in the gut? How could I say that the series of assumptions he might have already made about me, whatever formulaic response his brain makes to compute Pretty Girl + Big Truck, is wrong. That on top of all the other automatic assumptions the men make about me, my life, my marriage, my values, my principles, I have to smile wanly and respond, "yes, I drive a truck."
I have moved across town and across the country without the use of a car. I have borrowed vehicles for road trips. I have gone grocery shopping on foot, by bus, and by cab. Never before have I found myself unable to find an alternative to car-ownership. And there is an expiration date on borrowing my Mom's truck.
I've mentioned both ZipCar and Car2Go and spent a good deal of time researching both to find the better bargain or alternative. My attempts to find a transportation solution have included researching the price and possibilities of traditional car-pooling, daily cab rides, craigslist carshare, and capmetro's vanpool. I can say with disappointing confidence that there is absolutely NO perfect solution. But my shiny new Car2Go membership might prove to be slightly more perfect than indefinitely using Mom's car. I'm pretty excited to get my card in the next couple of days. If all goes well, the truck (and a $1,000 debt repayment) will go home with Mom next week!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Accommodation Fail
I had an epic airbnb.com fail! I don't know exactly what happened, but it seemed like the host confirmed our request and then denied it, giving me no explanation or returning communication. Which is fair enough. I mean, I did contact her really last minute. And I really can't blame any woman for not wanting to host a construction worker in her house for five days - even one described as a "vegetarian non-smoker who will quote Monty Python on demand." Actually, Darling thinks the Monty Python is what lost him the bid:(
So today we are going back up to Temple, most likely to book him a room at the Extended Stay hotel closest to the job-site and buy him some groceries. It sucks to send him off like this. I feel kind of sad and hypocritical, worse than when he went to work in East Texas. Fortunately he is working four ten-hour days a week, which means I will be picking him up Thursday after work. I am really, really, really hoping that tomorrow he will strike up a conversation with someone who will say, "oh, you work in Austin? Let me give you a ride," and that will be that.
If he doesn't find a carpool this first week, though, we're going to have to get him an apartment ASAP because the Extended Stay place is just too expensive. According to craigslist, we could rent him a room or efficiency for an average of $450 (22.50/workday) a month including utilities. The hotels are $700 ($35/workday) a month and smell bad. For the record, driving him to and from work in the truck would cost us $480 ($30/workday), assuming I drove him there in the morning and waited to drive him home, and did not take into account the wear on the car.
...This also does not take into the account that Darling will need personal groceries at accommodation he lives at, though it will save us $8/day off our co-op rent.
Blah. It's getting pretty hard to believe that there will be anything at all left over after the cost of the commute. The only bright side is that it will be work, legitimate, paying, good-on-the-resume work for the next six months while we look for something better. A step up, if you will.
So today we are going back up to Temple, most likely to book him a room at the Extended Stay hotel closest to the job-site and buy him some groceries. It sucks to send him off like this. I feel kind of sad and hypocritical, worse than when he went to work in East Texas. Fortunately he is working four ten-hour days a week, which means I will be picking him up Thursday after work. I am really, really, really hoping that tomorrow he will strike up a conversation with someone who will say, "oh, you work in Austin? Let me give you a ride," and that will be that.
If he doesn't find a carpool this first week, though, we're going to have to get him an apartment ASAP because the Extended Stay place is just too expensive. According to craigslist, we could rent him a room or efficiency for an average of $450 (22.50/workday) a month including utilities. The hotels are $700 ($35/workday) a month and smell bad. For the record, driving him to and from work in the truck would cost us $480 ($30/workday), assuming I drove him there in the morning and waited to drive him home, and did not take into account the wear on the car.
...This also does not take into the account that Darling will need personal groceries at accommodation he lives at, though it will save us $8/day off our co-op rent.
Blah. It's getting pretty hard to believe that there will be anything at all left over after the cost of the commute. The only bright side is that it will be work, legitimate, paying, good-on-the-resume work for the next six months while we look for something better. A step up, if you will.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Spending Reporrt: 2011
Airbnb.com? Absolutely amazing! Thanks to Sam and Michele P for the recommendation. There is ONE house in Temple, and it looks perfect :) Definitely following up on that as soon as Darling gets the call that the project is going ahead.
I'm kind of exhausted and pretending to do the dishes just now, but I need to go ahead and posts the results of my 2012 tabulations before I forget. Fortunately, I wrote most of the following several days ago:
My first big surprise was our total income for 2011. Besides May, when Darling and I earned only $538.16, we brought home an average of $1,921.56/month. In October, when Darling and I both worked full time, we earned nearly twice that. That is significantly more than I would have guessed. It was also fairly steady, despite what felt like huge gaps in employment and a total career change.
That's the good news. The bad news is that we spent significantly more than I figured. Every month we swung from deficit to surplus and back again, but ultimately the deficit reigned. All told, we spent $1,179.71 more than we earned.
What did we spend $98 a month on that maybe wasn't totally necessary? Gods. Well, eating out. A lot. It didn't seem like a lot on a weekly basis. Meals with friends, dates with Darling...each hour at the table seeming as lovely and worthwhile as anything. Only now, totaling the yearly bill, do I blush with embarrassment...How much did we spend eating out? An average of $140 a month!
What else could I have curbed? I spent nearly $230 on late and overdraft fees this year. For $19 a month I could have purchased used books or DVDs instead of going to the library and video store (or, dare I say, get that subscription to Netflix I do not want).
I spent $107 on entertainment a month, mostly on gifts and my birthday party. I'll have to keep that in mind in the coming year...All other spending was fairly minimal: a total of $166.84 for office supplies, $308.22 for licenses (particularly Darling's pricey passport renewal), $103.92 on non-work clothing, and $300.48 for non-commute travel.
I spent an average of $351.64/month on debt, $42.39 of which went straight to interest. We spent $81.52/month on health-related expenses, and I spent $2,283.52 on work and work alone. Living at the co-op, where share the cost of the bulk of our groceries and utilities, costs us $11,620.94 (besides the late rent fees).
So, what do we do with all this information?
The really cool thing about last year was how, well, normal it was. Now, quitting multiple crappy jobs, experiencing months of unemployment and uncertainty, and undergoing a drastic career change isn't a daily occurrence in the Softly household, but overall our lifestyle, earning, and spending patters were steady. And that's really what counts. I knew how much we basically needed to pay rent, but not how much we tend to spend on top of that, especially in terms of holiday spending and the like.
With this information I can realistically plan for the future. I have a basic idea of how much Darling and I should bring home a month, despite our fluctuating schedules, and I can make educated choices about expenses. For example, I've always believed that knitting birthday gifts would be too pricey, as yarn is quite expensive. Now I know that if I spent $50 a month on crafts supplies, I'd probably come out ahead (Feel free to announce "I Told You So," in the comments).
There is a lot more I'd like to do with these numbers, including creating weekly goals to shoot for and regular updates - maybe on a Friday? I can come clean on the fifty-million times I've eaten out, you can chide me for being naughty, and I'll brag on sending that same amount (or more) to debt. Oh yeah, did I mention I'm going to use this all as incentive to pay down my debt super fast this year? I'd ask you to wish me luck, but you all have about a dozen times...so, I'll just say it again: Happy New Year and Clean Slate everybody!
I'm kind of exhausted and pretending to do the dishes just now, but I need to go ahead and posts the results of my 2012 tabulations before I forget. Fortunately, I wrote most of the following several days ago:
My first big surprise was our total income for 2011. Besides May, when Darling and I earned only $538.16, we brought home an average of $1,921.56/month. In October, when Darling and I both worked full time, we earned nearly twice that. That is significantly more than I would have guessed. It was also fairly steady, despite what felt like huge gaps in employment and a total career change.
That's the good news. The bad news is that we spent significantly more than I figured. Every month we swung from deficit to surplus and back again, but ultimately the deficit reigned. All told, we spent $1,179.71 more than we earned.
What did we spend $98 a month on that maybe wasn't totally necessary? Gods. Well, eating out. A lot. It didn't seem like a lot on a weekly basis. Meals with friends, dates with Darling...each hour at the table seeming as lovely and worthwhile as anything. Only now, totaling the yearly bill, do I blush with embarrassment...How much did we spend eating out? An average of $140 a month!
What else could I have curbed? I spent nearly $230 on late and overdraft fees this year. For $19 a month I could have purchased used books or DVDs instead of going to the library and video store (or, dare I say, get that subscription to Netflix I do not want).
I spent $107 on entertainment a month, mostly on gifts and my birthday party. I'll have to keep that in mind in the coming year...All other spending was fairly minimal: a total of $166.84 for office supplies, $308.22 for licenses (particularly Darling's pricey passport renewal), $103.92 on non-work clothing, and $300.48 for non-commute travel.
I spent an average of $351.64/month on debt, $42.39 of which went straight to interest. We spent $81.52/month on health-related expenses, and I spent $2,283.52 on work and work alone. Living at the co-op, where share the cost of the bulk of our groceries and utilities, costs us $11,620.94 (besides the late rent fees).
So, what do we do with all this information?
The really cool thing about last year was how, well, normal it was. Now, quitting multiple crappy jobs, experiencing months of unemployment and uncertainty, and undergoing a drastic career change isn't a daily occurrence in the Softly household, but overall our lifestyle, earning, and spending patters were steady. And that's really what counts. I knew how much we basically needed to pay rent, but not how much we tend to spend on top of that, especially in terms of holiday spending and the like.
With this information I can realistically plan for the future. I have a basic idea of how much Darling and I should bring home a month, despite our fluctuating schedules, and I can make educated choices about expenses. For example, I've always believed that knitting birthday gifts would be too pricey, as yarn is quite expensive. Now I know that if I spent $50 a month on crafts supplies, I'd probably come out ahead (Feel free to announce "I Told You So," in the comments).
There is a lot more I'd like to do with these numbers, including creating weekly goals to shoot for and regular updates - maybe on a Friday? I can come clean on the fifty-million times I've eaten out, you can chide me for being naughty, and I'll brag on sending that same amount (or more) to debt. Oh yeah, did I mention I'm going to use this all as incentive to pay down my debt super fast this year? I'd ask you to wish me luck, but you all have about a dozen times...so, I'll just say it again: Happy New Year and Clean Slate everybody!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Visit in Temple
Today Darling and I bounced out of bed, had breakfast, and drove up to Temple. This is the location of the mister's upcoming gig, due to start "soon," which we are getting fairly anxious about. We figured driving up there and getting a feel for the place would give us some peace of mind.
The extended stay hotels are not a viable long-term option: they are expensive, unpleasant, and cost about $40/weekday. If Darling starts this week, we'll put him in the nicer (more expensive and convenient) location, but only for a few days. Surely he'll convince someone to accept his carpool request! He's already e-mailed his company and coworkers and posted a ride-share request on Craigslist, so now we don't have much to do but cross our fingers and wait.
The extended stay hotels are not a viable long-term option: they are expensive, unpleasant, and cost about $40/weekday. If Darling starts this week, we'll put him in the nicer (more expensive and convenient) location, but only for a few days. Surely he'll convince someone to accept his carpool request! He's already e-mailed his company and coworkers and posted a ride-share request on Craigslist, so now we don't have much to do but cross our fingers and wait.
Friday, December 2, 2011
December Net Worth and Commute Discovery
Last month I totally didn't report my net worth. It was calculated, accidentally deleted, and then apparently forgotten. Oops.
Rest assured that between the $1,000 loan from my mom, mounting interest on my student loans, and earning roughly $600 in October, November's net worth wasn't pretty. December would probably look good in comparison, though it's still not impressive.
I have $2,783.80 in assets and $10,077.11 in debt, giving me a total net worth of -$7,293.80.
Having earned so much money I've been resisting the urge to make grand proclamations regarding my net worth in the coming months. It seems that Darling and I will both be working and earning more than ever. Darling's new job is especially promising, with the single glaring flaw that it is a 60+ mile drive away.
Up until yesterday the most affordable and reasonable idea I could come up with was to rent Darling a studio apartment within a half-mile from his work-site. Which is still a possibility, but I found a completely phenomenal Plan B yesterday: The CapMetro Vanpool.
If 5-12 folks need to get to and from a location at least three days a week, Austin's public transportation office will provide a van for only $60/person a month. Not only does that $60 cover gas, maintenance, insurance, and so on, but the driver is excluded from that fee. Outside the metro area, a $.61/mile fee is applied.
So if only four of Darling's coworkers in Temple are commuting from Austin - which is very likely - the total price per person would be, at most, $390 a month. The driver would pay $360.
That's a hundred dollars less than what Darling and I would pay driving the truck. For someone driving, say, a relatively new Toyota Camry, however, that's about a hundred dollars more - assuming they can find gas at the fairly cheap price of $3.00 or less, which I can't, but the internet assures me is possible. However, if 8 people join the vanpool, it will cost the passengers only $266 each ($206 for the driver), which will be a savings for anyone getting less than 31 mpg. If the maximum 12 people join the carpool, which strikes me as a reasonable expectation, riders will pay a maximum of $197.50 a month!
Again, this is an estimation. I actually think the daily price will be slightly less, and on Monday I'll talk with the capmetro office to determine more precise figures. I also think it's reasonable to expect the price of gas to increase in the next six months, and also inevitable traffic is going to decrease everyone's mpg drastically. I also came to my total cost by counting the work days in January. Most months seem to have twenty-one work days, a couple have twenty-three, which will add a little variation to monthly cost, but not savings.
Other benefits include a free monthly bus pass for each rider, normally $20, and a certain number of emergency cab vouchers to prevent members from being stranded. The driver, as well as getting the $60 discount, can also get discounts on personal car insurance discounts and other perks, such as using the van to run errands during the day. Also, there are the untold benefits of simply not needing one's car every day: no missing work due to a failed transmission, flat tire, empty gas tank, or the other inevitable results of driving 18,000 miles in six months.
Frankly, I can't believe Darling's future co-workers wouldn't jump at this opportunity! If so, we'll save SO much money!
What's more is that my coworkers could do the same thing, and since we won't be leaving Austin it will only cost us $60/month total! If Darling is Vanpooling to Temple and I vanpool to the plant, our travel costs will be $450 for the entire month. That's quite a bit of money, but half of what it would cost for Darling to rent a small apartment and visit on weekends.
Of course, there are other options. Hopefully even if we can't find enough people to vanpool someone with a small car will offer Darling rides, and the same goes for me at the plant. That could be even cheaper, but without the safety nets offered by the metro. Also, I just love the idea of convincing twenty-two other drivers to leave their cars at home!
Rest assured that between the $1,000 loan from my mom, mounting interest on my student loans, and earning roughly $600 in October, November's net worth wasn't pretty. December would probably look good in comparison, though it's still not impressive.
I have $2,783.80 in assets and $10,077.11 in debt, giving me a total net worth of -$7,293.80.
Having earned so much money I've been resisting the urge to make grand proclamations regarding my net worth in the coming months. It seems that Darling and I will both be working and earning more than ever. Darling's new job is especially promising, with the single glaring flaw that it is a 60+ mile drive away.
Up until yesterday the most affordable and reasonable idea I could come up with was to rent Darling a studio apartment within a half-mile from his work-site. Which is still a possibility, but I found a completely phenomenal Plan B yesterday: The CapMetro Vanpool.
If 5-12 folks need to get to and from a location at least three days a week, Austin's public transportation office will provide a van for only $60/person a month. Not only does that $60 cover gas, maintenance, insurance, and so on, but the driver is excluded from that fee. Outside the metro area, a $.61/mile fee is applied.
So if only four of Darling's coworkers in Temple are commuting from Austin - which is very likely - the total price per person would be, at most, $390 a month. The driver would pay $360.
That's a hundred dollars less than what Darling and I would pay driving the truck. For someone driving, say, a relatively new Toyota Camry, however, that's about a hundred dollars more - assuming they can find gas at the fairly cheap price of $3.00 or less, which I can't, but the internet assures me is possible. However, if 8 people join the vanpool, it will cost the passengers only $266 each ($206 for the driver), which will be a savings for anyone getting less than 31 mpg. If the maximum 12 people join the carpool, which strikes me as a reasonable expectation, riders will pay a maximum of $197.50 a month!
Again, this is an estimation. I actually think the daily price will be slightly less, and on Monday I'll talk with the capmetro office to determine more precise figures. I also think it's reasonable to expect the price of gas to increase in the next six months, and also inevitable traffic is going to decrease everyone's mpg drastically. I also came to my total cost by counting the work days in January. Most months seem to have twenty-one work days, a couple have twenty-three, which will add a little variation to monthly cost, but not savings.
Other benefits include a free monthly bus pass for each rider, normally $20, and a certain number of emergency cab vouchers to prevent members from being stranded. The driver, as well as getting the $60 discount, can also get discounts on personal car insurance discounts and other perks, such as using the van to run errands during the day. Also, there are the untold benefits of simply not needing one's car every day: no missing work due to a failed transmission, flat tire, empty gas tank, or the other inevitable results of driving 18,000 miles in six months.
Frankly, I can't believe Darling's future co-workers wouldn't jump at this opportunity! If so, we'll save SO much money!
What's more is that my coworkers could do the same thing, and since we won't be leaving Austin it will only cost us $60/month total! If Darling is Vanpooling to Temple and I vanpool to the plant, our travel costs will be $450 for the entire month. That's quite a bit of money, but half of what it would cost for Darling to rent a small apartment and visit on weekends.
Of course, there are other options. Hopefully even if we can't find enough people to vanpool someone with a small car will offer Darling rides, and the same goes for me at the plant. That could be even cheaper, but without the safety nets offered by the metro. Also, I just love the idea of convincing twenty-two other drivers to leave their cars at home!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Car-Free Commuting
Mom decided not to come into town yesterday, so the car matter has been left to rest for another day. It's a complicated an emotional issue, so I need as much time to contemplate as possible. Tomorrow I'm heading to her house to help clean out behind her fireplace, take her trash to the dump, and so on, and that might give us both fresh perspective.
In the meantime, Darling is the conquering hero regarding car-free construction work. He has been taking to bus to his job on the UT campus. Students, of course, take this for granted. Ambi, who lives in Leander and takes the train to her job and graduate classes, couldn't believe Darling's coworkers face that parking fiasco every morning.
One of our big concerns has been a six-month job up in Temple Darling has been vying for. We had a difficult enough time getting him as far as Georgetown last week. The work pays well, 50% more than the West Texas gig, but no per diem and no arranged housing leaves us looking at a daily hour-and-a-half commute one-way.
After substantial debate we agreed that it might be worth our while to rent Darling a small apartment in the neighborhood, per diem or no, if we could find something affordable and within a mile of the downtown work-site. Rent, utilities, and groceries would have to be less expensive than the cost of putting gas in the truck to get there and back. Fortunately, our house gives us a discount on our own rent when we are out of town, so that adds another hundred bucks to the out-of-town budget.
We assumed that motels and extended-stay hotels would be the way to go, but $500-$700 monthly prices in seedy-looking buildings (thank you google maps!) put an end to that line of thought. Apartments weren't looking much more promising: most were across the highway, a feature I didn't want Darling coping with every morning by bike. Even a mile-and-a-half commute is too far, in my opinion, if a road looks too sketchy. One or two promising looking places were disqualified by angry sounding headers on websites warning of $30 non-refundable application fees and demanding proof of employment and income. Three or four places were disqualified by really negative reviews via yahoo and yelp - I've had enough horrible landlord experiences not to flirt with the devil this time around. No one who wanted to advertise prices online was renting for less than $450 a month.
I was just about to give up when I actually stumbled upon an apartment complex roughly half a mile from the job renting studio apartments for for $375 a month including utilities! We checked the place out on google maps and a few other sites and it seems to be in a clean, safe area featuring quiet roads and sidewalks. He could be at work in five minutes, stock the fridge and pantries with his beloved pasta, oatmeal, rice, and beans, and still bring home more money than he could earn in town with a more stable job than we could expect to find elsewhere.
I'm hugely relieved. Darling hasn't been offered the job yet, but at least I can stop obsessing about the ifs ands and buts until we find out. If we don't have access to the truck weeks from now I can get a zip car membership to drive him up there and visit every weekend. If I do have a truck, there's no doubt that I'll be working myself while he's out of town...though I should follow my husband's lead, man up, and figure out the car-free solution to my own commuting challenges.
In the meantime, Darling is the conquering hero regarding car-free construction work. He has been taking to bus to his job on the UT campus. Students, of course, take this for granted. Ambi, who lives in Leander and takes the train to her job and graduate classes, couldn't believe Darling's coworkers face that parking fiasco every morning.
One of our big concerns has been a six-month job up in Temple Darling has been vying for. We had a difficult enough time getting him as far as Georgetown last week. The work pays well, 50% more than the West Texas gig, but no per diem and no arranged housing leaves us looking at a daily hour-and-a-half commute one-way.
After substantial debate we agreed that it might be worth our while to rent Darling a small apartment in the neighborhood, per diem or no, if we could find something affordable and within a mile of the downtown work-site. Rent, utilities, and groceries would have to be less expensive than the cost of putting gas in the truck to get there and back. Fortunately, our house gives us a discount on our own rent when we are out of town, so that adds another hundred bucks to the out-of-town budget.
We assumed that motels and extended-stay hotels would be the way to go, but $500-$700 monthly prices in seedy-looking buildings (thank you google maps!) put an end to that line of thought. Apartments weren't looking much more promising: most were across the highway, a feature I didn't want Darling coping with every morning by bike. Even a mile-and-a-half commute is too far, in my opinion, if a road looks too sketchy. One or two promising looking places were disqualified by angry sounding headers on websites warning of $30 non-refundable application fees and demanding proof of employment and income. Three or four places were disqualified by really negative reviews via yahoo and yelp - I've had enough horrible landlord experiences not to flirt with the devil this time around. No one who wanted to advertise prices online was renting for less than $450 a month.
I was just about to give up when I actually stumbled upon an apartment complex roughly half a mile from the job renting studio apartments for for $375 a month including utilities! We checked the place out on google maps and a few other sites and it seems to be in a clean, safe area featuring quiet roads and sidewalks. He could be at work in five minutes, stock the fridge and pantries with his beloved pasta, oatmeal, rice, and beans, and still bring home more money than he could earn in town with a more stable job than we could expect to find elsewhere.
I'm hugely relieved. Darling hasn't been offered the job yet, but at least I can stop obsessing about the ifs ands and buts until we find out. If we don't have access to the truck weeks from now I can get a zip car membership to drive him up there and visit every weekend. If I do have a truck, there's no doubt that I'll be working myself while he's out of town...though I should follow my husband's lead, man up, and figure out the car-free solution to my own commuting challenges.
 |
| Sorry I've been too lazy to really post relevant pictures this week - enjoy one of me and BabyO from early last year! |
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Car Oblivian
Much of my lifestyle is the result of not owning a car. When Darling and I first moved back to Austin, we enlisted the help of an apartment hunter who urged us towards the affordable houses far north. Explaining our need to get downtown easily in order to work, she argued, "you don't even know where you'll be working yet!"
Maybe so, but we could guess that it wouldn't be in the suburban wasteland. Sure enough, we found a lovely urban apartment with countless employment opportunities within easy walking distance. What we lost to slightly higher rent we more than saved by avoiding the expensive nuisances of car-ownership. We saved even more money by moving into a community-minded apartment a year later, and did even better by moving into our co-op in 2009. For a few years every move and job change closed the the gap between where I lived and worked, up to the point that I could roll out of bed, brush my hair, and leisurely walk to my job down the street in about fifteen minutes.
Pair that with not needing to own a personal phone, a thrift store wardrobe, and sharing the cost of groceries with a house full of bean and rice enthusiasts, and I had this frugality thing down. All because Darling and I didn't want to own a car.
This morning I'm with Oblio, and for three glorious hours he has napped while I stared at the screen, written, deleted, written and deleted still more. I've juggled my emotions and rationalizations, rocking his portable seat all the while with my big toe to encourage his oblivion. This can't possibly last much longer. It seems we all have to wake up eventually. At least, that was meant to be the topic of this post.
I want to be a carpenter. I want to travel the United States and help others redefine home and community, sustainability and sufficiency. I want to arm myself with a hammer and wisdom, optimism and idealism. The first step was to go to the union, meet my new brothers (and many whom I can't help but think of as uncles), and master a trade in the most noble way possible. But the second step...the second step was to work out the transportation issue. I borrowed Mom's truck. I dinged Mom's truck. I filled Mom's truck with gas. And finally, Mom is saying that she wants her truck back, but more importantly, she wants to help me buy a car. Buy me a car. Whatever. So I can work, accomplish my goals. Maybe grow up. Wake up.
But I don't want to.
The only thing that hasn't been absolutely phenomenal about the past month was my dependence on the truck, the constant bondage, the weakening of spirit and flesh associated with the big toy-turned-tool. I sat down this morning with the intention of explaining myself, justify myself, but there's nothing to rationalize. I detest automobiles. I think the world would be better off without them and it's hard to envision my ongoing happiness tied to a death-trap on wheels.
...Which leaves me with choices to make, conversations to have, and maybe some disappointment. I don't know. Mom's coming to town on Sunday. Something will have to be decided.
Maybe so, but we could guess that it wouldn't be in the suburban wasteland. Sure enough, we found a lovely urban apartment with countless employment opportunities within easy walking distance. What we lost to slightly higher rent we more than saved by avoiding the expensive nuisances of car-ownership. We saved even more money by moving into a community-minded apartment a year later, and did even better by moving into our co-op in 2009. For a few years every move and job change closed the the gap between where I lived and worked, up to the point that I could roll out of bed, brush my hair, and leisurely walk to my job down the street in about fifteen minutes.
Pair that with not needing to own a personal phone, a thrift store wardrobe, and sharing the cost of groceries with a house full of bean and rice enthusiasts, and I had this frugality thing down. All because Darling and I didn't want to own a car.
This morning I'm with Oblio, and for three glorious hours he has napped while I stared at the screen, written, deleted, written and deleted still more. I've juggled my emotions and rationalizations, rocking his portable seat all the while with my big toe to encourage his oblivion. This can't possibly last much longer. It seems we all have to wake up eventually. At least, that was meant to be the topic of this post.
I want to be a carpenter. I want to travel the United States and help others redefine home and community, sustainability and sufficiency. I want to arm myself with a hammer and wisdom, optimism and idealism. The first step was to go to the union, meet my new brothers (and many whom I can't help but think of as uncles), and master a trade in the most noble way possible. But the second step...the second step was to work out the transportation issue. I borrowed Mom's truck. I dinged Mom's truck. I filled Mom's truck with gas. And finally, Mom is saying that she wants her truck back, but more importantly, she wants to help me buy a car. Buy me a car. Whatever. So I can work, accomplish my goals. Maybe grow up. Wake up.
But I don't want to.
The only thing that hasn't been absolutely phenomenal about the past month was my dependence on the truck, the constant bondage, the weakening of spirit and flesh associated with the big toy-turned-tool. I sat down this morning with the intention of explaining myself, justify myself, but there's nothing to rationalize. I detest automobiles. I think the world would be better off without them and it's hard to envision my ongoing happiness tied to a death-trap on wheels.
...Which leaves me with choices to make, conversations to have, and maybe some disappointment. I don't know. Mom's coming to town on Sunday. Something will have to be decided.
Monday, September 19, 2011
My 26th Birthday Ride
Guess what I found? A post written in late April detailing my super-awesome birthday camp trip/bicycle ride! I can't believe I forgot to publish it...I think my original plan was to publish it in two or three parts due to its insane length. But, you know what? I like reading long posts. They are much better than un-puplished posts, at least. And I'm certainly not editing this beautiful memory five months after the fact. Take a nap midway, if you'd like :)
I had the best birthday ever.
I spent a lot of money.
Thursday evening I went on a shopping trip with Darling and the money I'd earned that morning cleaning a house and the tips from my mid-shift at the coffee shop. Our plan was lightweight, high protein snacks for the bike ride. Somewhere between the bus stop and picking up a small basket I transformed into a ten-year-old girl packing for a fantasy picnic: our basket was heavy with bars of chocolate, a big bottle of juice, strawberries, energy bars, and packages of cookies.
I didn't know I could spend so much on so little!
Friday we woke up early and had a big breakfast before packing our bags and catching a ride downtown to pick up the commuter bus to Leander. The commuter buses, by the way, are AWESOME. Big and comfy, free wi-fi, and plenty of space to stow bags, including those big undercarriage luggage compartments that Greyhound buses have, where we put our bikes. Not bad for less than three dollars each. Darling and I read and chatted until we got to Leander, at which point we actually got on the bikes and started cycling down 183.
We must have ridden for about an hour and a half, mostly downhill with the wind at our backs. It was a pleasantly cool and sunny ride. We stopped two or three times for breaks, at which point enjoying our strawberries and juice in the shade.
I'll be honest: Darling and I are not dedicated road cyclists. In the city we will take to the sidewalk in the blink of an eye. I promise we'll get better, but I don't even like being on the highway in a car. It's so vulnerable and scary watching a sixteen wheeler share a lane with your husband...and at one point, two cars passed Darling at once on a two lane road, the three of them sharing such a limited space at once, the cars still racing along at 60+miles an hour. We'd checked on Google Maps to ensure that there would be a shoulder for the majority of the route, but road work blocked our way and actually squeezed us tighter to our petroleum-powered friends, forcing a two-lane road plus shoulder/bike lane into a single lane flanked by loud and dusty machinery.
Going downhill as we did, pumping away at top speed, it was easier to pretend that we blended right in with the huge trucks, careless SUVs, and weekend warriors on motorcycles. When I suddenly realized we had reached the bottom of the great hill, however, and saw the next stretching ahead of us like a great mountainous Tower of Babel to Heaven, I almost burst into tears.
Miraculously, that's when we turned off the highway onto the sweetest country road you ever saw. We coasted along scenic pastures, fields of longhorns and barbed-wire fences. Less than two hours after we embarked from our train station, having ridden from the northern tip of Leander to Liberty Hill, we arrived at the cabin.
"Where's your car?" a flabbergasted property manager demanded as I photographed a baby cow on the neighboring pasture.
After settling in, Darling and I agreed that the ride had barely been anything at all and decided to ride deeper into Liberty Hill to purchase tea bags and maybe have dinner. By this time it was roughly 4 p.m., and this leg of the trip was infinitely less pleasant. The heat of the day was well and truly upon us, we were harassed by trucks that seemed intent on forcing us off the road, and the entire idea behind the weekend seemed idiotic and childish. Yet again, as our trip teetered on the brink of unpleasantness, we found ourselves in the lot of a little local restaurant.
Dahlias had outdoor seating, a massive beer and wine selection, and a large selection of fresh and delicious vegetarian sides. Darling and I gulped down glass after glass of iced tea, forgot to order appetizers, and shared green beans, asparagus, cinnamon apples, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and the best chocolate chess pie I've ever had. Then we realized that, besides that carton of strawberries at noon, we hadn't eaten since nine in the morning. Needless to say, our ride back to the cabin was much more pleasant.
Until this point, I'd always taken the lead. Darling is much stronger and faster than me and has preferred to let me set the pace so as not get worn out and fall behind. Unfortunately I hate not being able to watch him. I feel he falls to far behind, making it more difficult for cars to pass us both safely. Already conservative with my energy, I go slower than necessary to close the imaginary gap.
Letting Darling take the lead, however, changed the dynamic entirely. Not only did I go much faster than ever before, quite comfortably, probably doubling our speed, but I felt much more confident demanding space on the road. Instead of teetering dangerously on very edge of the highway, I took as much of the lane as felt comfortable - enough so that cars would be able to see that there were two cyclists and forcing them to change lanes if they wanted to pass. If they wanted to share a lane with Darling, they'd literally do so over my dead body.
Strangely, cars seemed to react much better to this. Perhaps it was seeing a woman taking such a risk, rather than my long-haired husband. At one point on the ride back I noticed that we hadn't been passed in quite a while. I looked over my shoulder to see a woman in an SUV very patiently coasting behind us, making it all but impossible for anyone to get passed her or us. By the time we turned off that particular road, a good fifteen minutes later, she was leading a procession of five very annoyed drivers.
We arrived home in time to take a dip in the river before evening fell. It was then that it occurred to us that our time could have been managed more sensibly: we ought to have taken refuge in the water during that blazing afternoon, and hit the road during the cooler evening hours. Live and learn. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying a bottle of wine and television.
Saturday, my actual birthday, we spent the early morning reading, chatting, and relaxing. My friends drove in from Austin, including baby Oblio, and soon after my family arrived. There was a chocolate cake, a chocolate cake with strawberry cream, and one of those cheesecake samplers. We went to the store twice for provisions, buying lots of beer (for me and friends) and meat (for family). I got to hang out with Baby-O, whom I haven't seen in ages, and she did incredibly adorable toddler stuff like eat the pickles right out of my veggie burger and cover my clothes in mustard fingerprints.
Sunday we checked out of the cabin and hit the road for serious. Despite the thunderstorm warnings that kept me up all night envisioning us cycling home in a torrential downpour, it was another beautiful spring day. We agreed to ride towards home until we couldn't pedal any longer (having loaded friends' cars with the majority of our luggage), and headed south towards Austin.
We purchased a map of the area from a gas station, which showed neither our starting nor ending point. After a lunch at Subway at the northernmost point of Leander (bad, bad idea...two blocks later we saw a beautiful local diner and cried out in regret), we rode down 183. Construction was even worse going south, but the machinery was abandoned. It didn't take us long to claim the closed road as our own, and we traveled through most of Leander on brand new roads and freshly built bridges.
It was thrilling to exit Leander a handful of hours later, to have traveled through an entire city! Resting at the start of Cedar park, which I'd mistakenly always imagined to be a "neighborhood" of Austin, we were hit up by Jehovah's Witnesses while resting in a field. Weird. Forced reluctantly back onto the highway, we took a leap of faith and made a detour towards a Lakeline Blvd in the hopes that it would have less road work and more sidewalks. We were rewarded mightily for our efforts and enjoyed the majority of cedar park on that winding, beautiful road.
I wasn't expecting the outskirts of Austin to become suddenly rural, however, and getting from Cedar Park to northern Austin was surprisingly difficult. By five o'clock we were totally beat and Darling's bike - which needed a tune-up when we left, was making an absurd clunking noise and lost it's chain more than once. Slightly delirious and so distracted by hunger that I forgot the snack bars in my bag, we were overjoyed to find a bus stop. Ironically, it took us another three hours and an uphill ride to get from north Austin to our home in South Austin. But we were agonizingly sweaty, smudged with dirt and oil, slightly sunburned (Darling missed a spot on his arm), and sore as all get out, and therefore felt perfectly happy to sit for a while.
At home we took showers and faced with the choice of cooking, passing out and waking up in the morning sick with hunger and dehydration, or going out to eat, I decided to end our awesome weekend with my favorite sandwich from Magnolia cafe. We decided to walk. I don't even remember the walk home afterward, just waking up this morning feeling like I was made out of solid rock. A few hours later, however, I got out of bed feeling pretty great. Even my knee, which was bothering me the day before the big trip, feels perfectly fine now!
We probably traveled 25-30 miles yesterday, my longest trip by far. Now I'm convinced that, with the right supplies, we could make a longer weekend trip...Though we might wait for it to cool down a little.
 |
| A $40 bike and a borrowed bike. |
I had the best birthday ever.
I spent a lot of money.
Thursday evening I went on a shopping trip with Darling and the money I'd earned that morning cleaning a house and the tips from my mid-shift at the coffee shop. Our plan was lightweight, high protein snacks for the bike ride. Somewhere between the bus stop and picking up a small basket I transformed into a ten-year-old girl packing for a fantasy picnic: our basket was heavy with bars of chocolate, a big bottle of juice, strawberries, energy bars, and packages of cookies.
 |
| Why did I think we would need chocolate syrup??? |
Friday we woke up early and had a big breakfast before packing our bags and catching a ride downtown to pick up the commuter bus to Leander. The commuter buses, by the way, are AWESOME. Big and comfy, free wi-fi, and plenty of space to stow bags, including those big undercarriage luggage compartments that Greyhound buses have, where we put our bikes. Not bad for less than three dollars each. Darling and I read and chatted until we got to Leander, at which point we actually got on the bikes and started cycling down 183.
 |
| This is a much sharper incline than it looks. |
We must have ridden for about an hour and a half, mostly downhill with the wind at our backs. It was a pleasantly cool and sunny ride. We stopped two or three times for breaks, at which point enjoying our strawberries and juice in the shade.
I'll be honest: Darling and I are not dedicated road cyclists. In the city we will take to the sidewalk in the blink of an eye. I promise we'll get better, but I don't even like being on the highway in a car. It's so vulnerable and scary watching a sixteen wheeler share a lane with your husband...and at one point, two cars passed Darling at once on a two lane road, the three of them sharing such a limited space at once, the cars still racing along at 60+miles an hour. We'd checked on Google Maps to ensure that there would be a shoulder for the majority of the route, but road work blocked our way and actually squeezed us tighter to our petroleum-powered friends, forcing a two-lane road plus shoulder/bike lane into a single lane flanked by loud and dusty machinery.
Going downhill as we did, pumping away at top speed, it was easier to pretend that we blended right in with the huge trucks, careless SUVs, and weekend warriors on motorcycles. When I suddenly realized we had reached the bottom of the great hill, however, and saw the next stretching ahead of us like a great mountainous Tower of Babel to Heaven, I almost burst into tears.
Miraculously, that's when we turned off the highway onto the sweetest country road you ever saw. We coasted along scenic pastures, fields of longhorns and barbed-wire fences. Less than two hours after we embarked from our train station, having ridden from the northern tip of Leander to Liberty Hill, we arrived at the cabin.
 |
| Baby Cow!!! |
After settling in, Darling and I agreed that the ride had barely been anything at all and decided to ride deeper into Liberty Hill to purchase tea bags and maybe have dinner. By this time it was roughly 4 p.m., and this leg of the trip was infinitely less pleasant. The heat of the day was well and truly upon us, we were harassed by trucks that seemed intent on forcing us off the road, and the entire idea behind the weekend seemed idiotic and childish. Yet again, as our trip teetered on the brink of unpleasantness, we found ourselves in the lot of a little local restaurant.
Dahlias had outdoor seating, a massive beer and wine selection, and a large selection of fresh and delicious vegetarian sides. Darling and I gulped down glass after glass of iced tea, forgot to order appetizers, and shared green beans, asparagus, cinnamon apples, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and the best chocolate chess pie I've ever had. Then we realized that, besides that carton of strawberries at noon, we hadn't eaten since nine in the morning. Needless to say, our ride back to the cabin was much more pleasant.
 |
| Taking a break on a country road |
Letting Darling take the lead, however, changed the dynamic entirely. Not only did I go much faster than ever before, quite comfortably, probably doubling our speed, but I felt much more confident demanding space on the road. Instead of teetering dangerously on very edge of the highway, I took as much of the lane as felt comfortable - enough so that cars would be able to see that there were two cyclists and forcing them to change lanes if they wanted to pass. If they wanted to share a lane with Darling, they'd literally do so over my dead body.
Strangely, cars seemed to react much better to this. Perhaps it was seeing a woman taking such a risk, rather than my long-haired husband. At one point on the ride back I noticed that we hadn't been passed in quite a while. I looked over my shoulder to see a woman in an SUV very patiently coasting behind us, making it all but impossible for anyone to get passed her or us. By the time we turned off that particular road, a good fifteen minutes later, she was leading a procession of five very annoyed drivers.
We arrived home in time to take a dip in the river before evening fell. It was then that it occurred to us that our time could have been managed more sensibly: we ought to have taken refuge in the water during that blazing afternoon, and hit the road during the cooler evening hours. Live and learn. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying a bottle of wine and television.
 |
| The river got deep a little further down |
Saturday, my actual birthday, we spent the early morning reading, chatting, and relaxing. My friends drove in from Austin, including baby Oblio, and soon after my family arrived. There was a chocolate cake, a chocolate cake with strawberry cream, and one of those cheesecake samplers. We went to the store twice for provisions, buying lots of beer (for me and friends) and meat (for family). I got to hang out with Baby-O, whom I haven't seen in ages, and she did incredibly adorable toddler stuff like eat the pickles right out of my veggie burger and cover my clothes in mustard fingerprints.
 |
| We had a full kitchen, A/C, and cable television :) |
We purchased a map of the area from a gas station, which showed neither our starting nor ending point. After a lunch at Subway at the northernmost point of Leander (bad, bad idea...two blocks later we saw a beautiful local diner and cried out in regret), we rode down 183. Construction was even worse going south, but the machinery was abandoned. It didn't take us long to claim the closed road as our own, and we traveled through most of Leander on brand new roads and freshly built bridges.
 |
| This was OUR road. |
It was thrilling to exit Leander a handful of hours later, to have traveled through an entire city! Resting at the start of Cedar park, which I'd mistakenly always imagined to be a "neighborhood" of Austin, we were hit up by Jehovah's Witnesses while resting in a field. Weird. Forced reluctantly back onto the highway, we took a leap of faith and made a detour towards a Lakeline Blvd in the hopes that it would have less road work and more sidewalks. We were rewarded mightily for our efforts and enjoyed the majority of cedar park on that winding, beautiful road.
I wasn't expecting the outskirts of Austin to become suddenly rural, however, and getting from Cedar Park to northern Austin was surprisingly difficult. By five o'clock we were totally beat and Darling's bike - which needed a tune-up when we left, was making an absurd clunking noise and lost it's chain more than once. Slightly delirious and so distracted by hunger that I forgot the snack bars in my bag, we were overjoyed to find a bus stop. Ironically, it took us another three hours and an uphill ride to get from north Austin to our home in South Austin. But we were agonizingly sweaty, smudged with dirt and oil, slightly sunburned (Darling missed a spot on his arm), and sore as all get out, and therefore felt perfectly happy to sit for a while.
At home we took showers and faced with the choice of cooking, passing out and waking up in the morning sick with hunger and dehydration, or going out to eat, I decided to end our awesome weekend with my favorite sandwich from Magnolia cafe. We decided to walk. I don't even remember the walk home afterward, just waking up this morning feeling like I was made out of solid rock. A few hours later, however, I got out of bed feeling pretty great. Even my knee, which was bothering me the day before the big trip, feels perfectly fine now!
 |
| Queen of the Road! |
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Spending on Buses, Not Booze
So, about not spending...
...It's been fairly easy so far. Since my last update Darling and I spent $186 on debt and $2 on bus tickets.
On Monday the house had a party and I had a really, really hard time not pitching in for beverages. It kind of makes me feel like a huge jerk, actually, not to purchase a six-pack to share. Not that there wasn't plenty of beverage to go around. Come to think of it, I had a similar compulsion while hanging out with friends on Sunday. I wouldn't have expected that to be my strongest temptation so far, but there you go.
I spent some time trying to fix my bike today and succeeded in little more than threading a nut and becoming very, very frustrated with the entire situation. I miss riding like crazy. Due to the 4th of July my trip with Em to YBP has been postponed yet again, but maybe on Monday everything will get sorted out.
...It's been fairly easy so far. Since my last update Darling and I spent $186 on debt and $2 on bus tickets.
On Monday the house had a party and I had a really, really hard time not pitching in for beverages. It kind of makes me feel like a huge jerk, actually, not to purchase a six-pack to share. Not that there wasn't plenty of beverage to go around. Come to think of it, I had a similar compulsion while hanging out with friends on Sunday. I wouldn't have expected that to be my strongest temptation so far, but there you go.
I spent some time trying to fix my bike today and succeeded in little more than threading a nut and becoming very, very frustrated with the entire situation. I miss riding like crazy. Due to the 4th of July my trip with Em to YBP has been postponed yet again, but maybe on Monday everything will get sorted out.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
2011 Resolution Update
So, I made some New Years Resolutions last January.
And I was fairly good at keeping them for a long while. Then...well, I obviously stopped mentioning them. It was Beanie's recent post on our car-free challenge that reminded me to fess up.
So, car free? Not so much. I posted early on about my first several snags. Getting across town to babysit Baby O on MLK day was my first ride of the year, I think. Remember that day I shared a glue trap with a rat and then discovered the trains weren't running? Crap way to start the year. February I borrowed a car from Bo to do the house shopping, got trapped in South By Southwest downtown traffic, and got rear-ended. Not long after I shared a ride to the liquor store with her and then a bottle of whiskey. By my Mom's visit in March I no longer had the energy to resist her request to drive her around the city, though I was still shaken from the last time I got behind the wheel. By April I took for granted that I'd end up in a car to buy emergency provisions (meat) for my family to eat at my birthday barbecue. And by May I pretty much let the matter drop.
What have I learned? Darling and I choose to live car free, and I really think that if we moved to a new town (or back to Virginia), we'd have no problem going a year without metal coffins. However, we live in my hometown,where not only do we know a dozen people who want to see us regularly, but they all live at least an hour's ride away from us. By not owning a car (among other "alternative" lifestyle choices) we're able to live in an absurdly expensive area of an already pricey city. My friends, in turn, have chosen to live in the suburbs. Eventually we will all have to make difficult choices about where we choose to live and whom we get to hang out with as a result of those choices, but we might as well enjoy our mobility while gas is affordable (if gas wasn't affordable, people wouldn't drive SUVs).
As for riding the bike every single day, I crapped out on my 26th birthday, which also happens to be the hundredth day of the year. So I rode my bike for ninety-nine days in a row, a little further every week than the week before. To be fair, that first day I missed was also the weekend of my longest ride, well over thirty miles. I only realized that I went a full twenty-four hours without riding in reflection.
I kept riding daily for a few weeks longer, then I got sick. After pedaling an evening or two in a sickly haze, I gave it up for about a week. Then one day I went to grab Mimi's bike and it was not available. That was the same week I was offered a new job eight miles away. You guys should be able to recall easily enough what's been up since then.
Is this a fail? Maybe. I personally don't think so. I got enough riding in to feel like a true cyclist. I made trips to doctor offices and to campsites several towns away. I rode on dirt roads and highways. I rode to see my Godbaby in the hospital twice in the first two days of his life. And I built a foundation for future cycling. I knew before signing on the dotted line that riding eight miles home from work would be a breeze, even when most of my friends and family could only relate to the route as a hour-and-a-half-stuck-in-traffic trip. I learned some basic bike repair and am coming to terms with the fact that, to be the person I want to be, I have to embrace my mechanical side. I regret not riding every single day, but slowing down to master some mad hex key skills is obviously a necessary step in my personal evolution.
I totally forgot about the veganism thing, to be honest. Between the cycling and the commute and adjusting to a new job, not eating dairy fell pretty low on my priorities. Being away from my kitchen 10-12 hours a day five days a week is an incredible challenge. Finding any type of food that is nutritional, easy to transport, will be delicious after a long hot bus ride, does not make me look like a complete nerd at work, and can be thrown together in six minutes has been fairly stressful. Though, come to think of it, most of my successful lunch boxes have actually been vegan. So maybe I've been more successful than I give myself credit for. I'll start paying attention again.
I'm still tracking my money and creating my monthly tabulations, but still haven't moved onto the next step of the Your Money Or Your Life plan. I have to create and mount a sort of chart to gauge my success over the next five years or so. I've never been good at visual aids and the very sight of poster board brings to mind haunting memories of science fairs past. However, I'm pretty sure the next step of the plan is basically: Be Frugal. So, if I can get past this little fear-of-wall-charts thing, the next step will be crazy simple and jibe nicely with my 10 Month Spending Fast.
And I was fairly good at keeping them for a long while. Then...well, I obviously stopped mentioning them. It was Beanie's recent post on our car-free challenge that reminded me to fess up.
So, car free? Not so much. I posted early on about my first several snags. Getting across town to babysit Baby O on MLK day was my first ride of the year, I think. Remember that day I shared a glue trap with a rat and then discovered the trains weren't running? Crap way to start the year. February I borrowed a car from Bo to do the house shopping, got trapped in South By Southwest downtown traffic, and got rear-ended. Not long after I shared a ride to the liquor store with her and then a bottle of whiskey. By my Mom's visit in March I no longer had the energy to resist her request to drive her around the city, though I was still shaken from the last time I got behind the wheel. By April I took for granted that I'd end up in a car to buy emergency provisions (meat) for my family to eat at my birthday barbecue. And by May I pretty much let the matter drop.
What have I learned? Darling and I choose to live car free, and I really think that if we moved to a new town (or back to Virginia), we'd have no problem going a year without metal coffins. However, we live in my hometown,where not only do we know a dozen people who want to see us regularly, but they all live at least an hour's ride away from us. By not owning a car (among other "alternative" lifestyle choices) we're able to live in an absurdly expensive area of an already pricey city. My friends, in turn, have chosen to live in the suburbs. Eventually we will all have to make difficult choices about where we choose to live and whom we get to hang out with as a result of those choices, but we might as well enjoy our mobility while gas is affordable (if gas wasn't affordable, people wouldn't drive SUVs).
As for riding the bike every single day, I crapped out on my 26th birthday, which also happens to be the hundredth day of the year. So I rode my bike for ninety-nine days in a row, a little further every week than the week before. To be fair, that first day I missed was also the weekend of my longest ride, well over thirty miles. I only realized that I went a full twenty-four hours without riding in reflection.
I kept riding daily for a few weeks longer, then I got sick. After pedaling an evening or two in a sickly haze, I gave it up for about a week. Then one day I went to grab Mimi's bike and it was not available. That was the same week I was offered a new job eight miles away. You guys should be able to recall easily enough what's been up since then.
Is this a fail? Maybe. I personally don't think so. I got enough riding in to feel like a true cyclist. I made trips to doctor offices and to campsites several towns away. I rode on dirt roads and highways. I rode to see my Godbaby in the hospital twice in the first two days of his life. And I built a foundation for future cycling. I knew before signing on the dotted line that riding eight miles home from work would be a breeze, even when most of my friends and family could only relate to the route as a hour-and-a-half-stuck-in-traffic trip. I learned some basic bike repair and am coming to terms with the fact that, to be the person I want to be, I have to embrace my mechanical side. I regret not riding every single day, but slowing down to master some mad hex key skills is obviously a necessary step in my personal evolution.
I totally forgot about the veganism thing, to be honest. Between the cycling and the commute and adjusting to a new job, not eating dairy fell pretty low on my priorities. Being away from my kitchen 10-12 hours a day five days a week is an incredible challenge. Finding any type of food that is nutritional, easy to transport, will be delicious after a long hot bus ride, does not make me look like a complete nerd at work, and can be thrown together in six minutes has been fairly stressful. Though, come to think of it, most of my successful lunch boxes have actually been vegan. So maybe I've been more successful than I give myself credit for. I'll start paying attention again.
I'm still tracking my money and creating my monthly tabulations, but still haven't moved onto the next step of the Your Money Or Your Life plan. I have to create and mount a sort of chart to gauge my success over the next five years or so. I've never been good at visual aids and the very sight of poster board brings to mind haunting memories of science fairs past. However, I'm pretty sure the next step of the plan is basically: Be Frugal. So, if I can get past this little fear-of-wall-charts thing, the next step will be crazy simple and jibe nicely with my 10 Month Spending Fast.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Meetings+Sleep Deprivation=Suck
Sunday my Mom came into town. My day was spent traveling to my brother's house ten thousand miles and one bus transfer away from my home to hang out with them for all of six minutes before needing to go to work. Faced with the task of getting home from that evening when the night buses weren't running with neither bike nor cab fare, I was very relieved when my sister-in-law offered the use of her town bike.
I then missed the bus and had to ride to work, showing up sweaty, flustered, and late. It was worth it having the bike to ride home, but the weight of the cruiser added at least twenty minutes to that night's trip.
Four hours after getting home from work I had to wake up and go straight back for a meeting. I cycled fifteen minutes to the train station and slept in the comfortable seat. I was very, very grumpy during the two-hour meeting, at one point so frustrated that I nearly walked out for very immature reasons.
Afterward I returned Sister-in-laws's bike and my day improved. Baby O played with me for quite a while before Mom took me out for lunch and vegan ice cream. Then I headed back to my house for another meeting, which was comparably pleasant, and after that hung out with Ambi to watch the rest of Game of Thrones.
This morning I chose to sleep in rather than try and fix my bike. It was a worthwhile sacrifice. I'll be able to get home by bus for the rest of the week, at least. And only four days until payday!
I then missed the bus and had to ride to work, showing up sweaty, flustered, and late. It was worth it having the bike to ride home, but the weight of the cruiser added at least twenty minutes to that night's trip.
Four hours after getting home from work I had to wake up and go straight back for a meeting. I cycled fifteen minutes to the train station and slept in the comfortable seat. I was very, very grumpy during the two-hour meeting, at one point so frustrated that I nearly walked out for very immature reasons.
Afterward I returned Sister-in-laws's bike and my day improved. Baby O played with me for quite a while before Mom took me out for lunch and vegan ice cream. Then I headed back to my house for another meeting, which was comparably pleasant, and after that hung out with Ambi to watch the rest of Game of Thrones.
This morning I chose to sleep in rather than try and fix my bike. It was a worthwhile sacrifice. I'll be able to get home by bus for the rest of the week, at least. And only four days until payday!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Bike Break Down
Bleh.
Thursday I hung out with Xy and Raja during the day and they gave me a ride to work, which meant a trip home by bus. Friday, of course, was spent with the baby and that evening I took a walk to Barton Springs to partake in the evening free swim.
Yesterday it was back to the commute, wrestling the bike onto a bus and paying my scrounged dollar for a one-way ride. I had an easy enough shift, but wasn't especially looking forward to the evening ride home. Not only was I battling a mild caffeine withdrawal headache (I'm finding that I can have my morning coffee or a chance at being hydrated during the day...it's a tough call), but it dawned on me that Saturday evening traffic would be very different from Wednesday night.
At midnight on a weekday the straight-through-the-middle-of-town involves the least amount of work: I point my bike south, listen for the approach of an occasional car, and coast downhill most of the way. At nine-thirty last night, however, traffic was still heavy. I checked on-line and found a route home along quiet roads with bike paths, which unfortunately cut across the very-hilly college campus. That's what I get for whining about a lackluster work-out.
The first five or so miles were absolutely awesome, re-affirming that biking home is the best commute ever. Then I began to feel a wobble in my left pedal. At first ever-so-slight, it could have been my imagination. Or has that always been there? By the time I crossed campus and hit the drag, the wobble was accompanied by a threatening squeak. Assuming I'd left a screw loose when replacing the pedals, I pulled over and tightened them with a hex key. Nothing I'd tampered with in the past, or anything I could discern by streetlight, was loose besides the entire crank (I just had to do a quick search to determine what the arm-type thing the pedal actually screws into is called).
Even though I couldn't tell what was wrong, each push forward was soon accompanied by a steady, grinding whine. Fairly certain my bike was on the verge of losing her guts and with no money for bus fare, I had to walk her the rest of the way home.
Don't know when I'll get a chance to fix the problem, but at least this doesn't suck as much as having a "new" used car break down halfway home.
Thursday I hung out with Xy and Raja during the day and they gave me a ride to work, which meant a trip home by bus. Friday, of course, was spent with the baby and that evening I took a walk to Barton Springs to partake in the evening free swim.
Yesterday it was back to the commute, wrestling the bike onto a bus and paying my scrounged dollar for a one-way ride. I had an easy enough shift, but wasn't especially looking forward to the evening ride home. Not only was I battling a mild caffeine withdrawal headache (I'm finding that I can have my morning coffee or a chance at being hydrated during the day...it's a tough call), but it dawned on me that Saturday evening traffic would be very different from Wednesday night.
At midnight on a weekday the straight-through-the-middle-of-town involves the least amount of work: I point my bike south, listen for the approach of an occasional car, and coast downhill most of the way. At nine-thirty last night, however, traffic was still heavy. I checked on-line and found a route home along quiet roads with bike paths, which unfortunately cut across the very-hilly college campus. That's what I get for whining about a lackluster work-out.
The first five or so miles were absolutely awesome, re-affirming that biking home is the best commute ever. Then I began to feel a wobble in my left pedal. At first ever-so-slight, it could have been my imagination. Or has that always been there? By the time I crossed campus and hit the drag, the wobble was accompanied by a threatening squeak. Assuming I'd left a screw loose when replacing the pedals, I pulled over and tightened them with a hex key. Nothing I'd tampered with in the past, or anything I could discern by streetlight, was loose besides the entire crank (I just had to do a quick search to determine what the arm-type thing the pedal actually screws into is called).
Even though I couldn't tell what was wrong, each push forward was soon accompanied by a steady, grinding whine. Fairly certain my bike was on the verge of losing her guts and with no money for bus fare, I had to walk her the rest of the way home.
Don't know when I'll get a chance to fix the problem, but at least this doesn't suck as much as having a "new" used car break down halfway home.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
My first Commute By Bike
My new bike is a vintage trek racing bike, at least as old as myself and in much better shape. She looks a lot like this.
I'm totally unused to the posture and style of riding such a bike, but after months of riding a super-heavy cruiser, the speed and responsiveness is a revelation. Not dissimilar to driving a small sports car after a Summer behind the wheel of a Toyota Tundra.
Tuesday I rode her to the train station to work, but a rainstorm forced me to accept a ride home from a coworker. So it wasn't until last night that I got to try out my eight mile ride home for the first time.
We had a late rush at work and I ended up staying on an extra hour helping to catch up. Feeling rough and worn out, I wasn't looking forward to pedaling home. Having missed the last day bus, however, I had another hour to wait for the first night owl! So I hopped on the saddle and, before I knew it, was very nearly home and had not come close to breaking a sweat. The streets were mostly clear and, although I was anxious about drunk drivers as I coasted down the drag and through downtown, I didn't have a single issue.
The ride was so easy, in fact, that I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. This was supposed to be my daily workout! Climbing the last massive hill home, however, got me huffing and puffing. So there may be some aerobic merit to the ride after all.
The entire trip took me about 45 minutes. Not only is that half as long as the bus takes, but it's only about ten minutes longer than the trip by car in daytime traffic (not rush hour). I arrived home feeling refreshed, took a quick shower, drank some herbal tea, and passed out feeling great.
I'm totally unused to the posture and style of riding such a bike, but after months of riding a super-heavy cruiser, the speed and responsiveness is a revelation. Not dissimilar to driving a small sports car after a Summer behind the wheel of a Toyota Tundra.
Tuesday I rode her to the train station to work, but a rainstorm forced me to accept a ride home from a coworker. So it wasn't until last night that I got to try out my eight mile ride home for the first time.
We had a late rush at work and I ended up staying on an extra hour helping to catch up. Feeling rough and worn out, I wasn't looking forward to pedaling home. Having missed the last day bus, however, I had another hour to wait for the first night owl! So I hopped on the saddle and, before I knew it, was very nearly home and had not come close to breaking a sweat. The streets were mostly clear and, although I was anxious about drunk drivers as I coasted down the drag and through downtown, I didn't have a single issue.
The ride was so easy, in fact, that I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. This was supposed to be my daily workout! Climbing the last massive hill home, however, got me huffing and puffing. So there may be some aerobic merit to the ride after all.
The entire trip took me about 45 minutes. Not only is that half as long as the bus takes, but it's only about ten minutes longer than the trip by car in daytime traffic (not rush hour). I arrived home feeling refreshed, took a quick shower, drank some herbal tea, and passed out feeling great.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Catching Up and Making Plans
Yesterday I finally fixed my adopted bike. It really only needed a couple of adjustments: a lowered seat and new pedals. I gave it a good test ride to and from the library and, besides having no idea how the gear system works, I feel comfortable enough to ride it home tonight.
In order to assuage my friends' concerns about my riding eight miles from work, I walked home one evening last week to get the best possible feel of the route. It took me a little more than three hours, mostly because I got turned around at one point and added at least half an hour to my trip. Although it's not a walk I'd like to take again, it was not, as many of my coworkers insisted, "impossible." And if I can enjoy a trip on foot, taking it on a bike will be a breeze and a half.
Last night I baked chocolate oatmeal cookies and Darling and I had a very good talk about money, employment, capitalism, spending, and so on. At first he was a little alarmed at the thought of embarking on an extended consumer strike. During his break from ACC, he enrolled in a state-funded training program for NABCEP practitioners hosted by the local electricians union. We've long considered shifting his renewable energy studies into a career in electrical work, but he was hesitant to commit to a five year apprenticeship program. Hanging out at the union and getting to know instructors, contractors, and novices has finally compelled him to apply for a spot in the full program. Nothing is guaranteed, but upon acceptance he would qualify for wages and benefits that would totally change our financial reality. We'd finally be able to afford darn near anything we want! And, as a vegetarian living in a cooperative who rides his bike to and from the offices in the heat of the Texas Summer, Darling really, really did not want to hurt his small chance of fitting in with the hyper-traditional masculine crowd he'd be working with. So...not spending money? Pretty much the opposite of what my husband was looking forward to in the next ten months.
After explaining my theory and what I hope to accomplish, however, Darling got the point. The goal would not be to sacrifice needs or forgo wants, but cultivate a system of satisfying both needs and wants outside the capitalist system. I know that might sound ridiculous/impossible, and I'll go deeper into the details over time, but it is a worthwhile experiment. After lengthy debate, we agreed that it needs to be long term, but with scheduled periods for review. Due to the nature of the project we won't arrange for a gearing up period, as we had with early no-spend months. We'll start July 1st for ease of scheduling, even though we won't have any money for one last meal at a restaurant or trip to Goodwill. He is still going to get his $30+ worth of computer supplies he's been requesting for his birthday, but otherwise we don't expect to make many exceptions. Our first review period will be three months from the start, October, so we can make needed adjustments to our philosophy before the holidays.
I intend to spend the next nine days practicing and developing an awareness of what makes me want to spend, and how such desires can be met without buying.
In order to assuage my friends' concerns about my riding eight miles from work, I walked home one evening last week to get the best possible feel of the route. It took me a little more than three hours, mostly because I got turned around at one point and added at least half an hour to my trip. Although it's not a walk I'd like to take again, it was not, as many of my coworkers insisted, "impossible." And if I can enjoy a trip on foot, taking it on a bike will be a breeze and a half.
Last night I baked chocolate oatmeal cookies and Darling and I had a very good talk about money, employment, capitalism, spending, and so on. At first he was a little alarmed at the thought of embarking on an extended consumer strike. During his break from ACC, he enrolled in a state-funded training program for NABCEP practitioners hosted by the local electricians union. We've long considered shifting his renewable energy studies into a career in electrical work, but he was hesitant to commit to a five year apprenticeship program. Hanging out at the union and getting to know instructors, contractors, and novices has finally compelled him to apply for a spot in the full program. Nothing is guaranteed, but upon acceptance he would qualify for wages and benefits that would totally change our financial reality. We'd finally be able to afford darn near anything we want! And, as a vegetarian living in a cooperative who rides his bike to and from the offices in the heat of the Texas Summer, Darling really, really did not want to hurt his small chance of fitting in with the hyper-traditional masculine crowd he'd be working with. So...not spending money? Pretty much the opposite of what my husband was looking forward to in the next ten months.
After explaining my theory and what I hope to accomplish, however, Darling got the point. The goal would not be to sacrifice needs or forgo wants, but cultivate a system of satisfying both needs and wants outside the capitalist system. I know that might sound ridiculous/impossible, and I'll go deeper into the details over time, but it is a worthwhile experiment. After lengthy debate, we agreed that it needs to be long term, but with scheduled periods for review. Due to the nature of the project we won't arrange for a gearing up period, as we had with early no-spend months. We'll start July 1st for ease of scheduling, even though we won't have any money for one last meal at a restaurant or trip to Goodwill. He is still going to get his $30+ worth of computer supplies he's been requesting for his birthday, but otherwise we don't expect to make many exceptions. Our first review period will be three months from the start, October, so we can make needed adjustments to our philosophy before the holidays.
I intend to spend the next nine days practicing and developing an awareness of what makes me want to spend, and how such desires can be met without buying.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Taxi-Cab Tales
In an attempt to determine whether or not purchasing a ZipCar membership would be worthwhile, Sunday I experimented with doing the house shopping via taxi. In order to shop affordable and organically for our nine person vegetarian household, we depend very heavily on the bulk section for rice, beans, grains, flours, spices, cereals, sugar, salt, nuts, and dried fruit. This generally means a car full of empty containers and bags. Which, by the way, makes it really hard for me to relate to folks who claim they can't remember to bring their own bags to go shopping, but whatever.
Anyway, since I couldn't take many containers on the first leg of my journey, to be taken by bus, I dug up and labeled twenty or so ziplock bags (all having been used, washed, and dried many times) and tucked them into the three large green crates we carry home our shopping in. This took about fifteen minutes and the bus ride went smoothly.
Shopping with pre-labelled plastic bags was much easier than I'm used to. When shopping with the large glass jars in the past, I would have to weight the jar, label it fill it with product, and find space for it in a cart of twenty or so other jars. With the bags I didn't even have to take time to check the list and they stacked nicely into a single crate.
As usual the Wheatsville folks were very awesome in helping me bag and box up my groceries and giving me a couple of bucks off for bringing my own containers. Then they let me call a taxi with their complementary phone.
Waiting for a cab was a definite drag. I was becoming seriously concerned about the milk, cheese, and frozen juice concentrate by the time a driver finally pulled up. But he happily loaded my groceries into the trunk and once in the vehicle, I was really pleased with my decision. He dealt with traffic as only a paid proffessional could, running lights, drifting between lanes, and cutting other drivers off with nary a sigh nor gasp. I got to sit back and listen to a Prairie Home Companion.
Back at the house he unloaded the groceries at my front door and I paid him twenty dollars, which included a decent trip.
So, while twenty dollars is a lot of money, I totally plan to do this in the future. A similar trip in a zipcar would have cost me at least $24, which would not have included the $50 yearly fee for the privelage (sure, that's only $4 a month, but it's over twice that per shopping trip). Plus, in order to get to the zipcar I'd have to get downtown, and then return it directly after the shopping trip, adding a good hour to the chore. The ease and convenience of getting a cab home made the experience really enjoyable.
On a similar vein, I ended up taking a cab home on Sunday night. That was a far less pleasant experience. The cabbie got lost on the way, for exactly the reason I asked the dispatcher to warn him about, so I ended up waiting about forty-five minutes. Then I had to give directions, and then, on the highway, the cabbie mentioned his credit card machine was broken (an old scam warned about on the cab company's website). I didn't have enough cash to cover the $30 fare, so that was an issue. All in all? The night bus was only slightly worse. I'm going out right now to see if I can get Agni's bike rolling.
Anyway, since I couldn't take many containers on the first leg of my journey, to be taken by bus, I dug up and labeled twenty or so ziplock bags (all having been used, washed, and dried many times) and tucked them into the three large green crates we carry home our shopping in. This took about fifteen minutes and the bus ride went smoothly.
Shopping with pre-labelled plastic bags was much easier than I'm used to. When shopping with the large glass jars in the past, I would have to weight the jar, label it fill it with product, and find space for it in a cart of twenty or so other jars. With the bags I didn't even have to take time to check the list and they stacked nicely into a single crate.
As usual the Wheatsville folks were very awesome in helping me bag and box up my groceries and giving me a couple of bucks off for bringing my own containers. Then they let me call a taxi with their complementary phone.
Waiting for a cab was a definite drag. I was becoming seriously concerned about the milk, cheese, and frozen juice concentrate by the time a driver finally pulled up. But he happily loaded my groceries into the trunk and once in the vehicle, I was really pleased with my decision. He dealt with traffic as only a paid proffessional could, running lights, drifting between lanes, and cutting other drivers off with nary a sigh nor gasp. I got to sit back and listen to a Prairie Home Companion.
Back at the house he unloaded the groceries at my front door and I paid him twenty dollars, which included a decent trip.
So, while twenty dollars is a lot of money, I totally plan to do this in the future. A similar trip in a zipcar would have cost me at least $24, which would not have included the $50 yearly fee for the privelage (sure, that's only $4 a month, but it's over twice that per shopping trip). Plus, in order to get to the zipcar I'd have to get downtown, and then return it directly after the shopping trip, adding a good hour to the chore. The ease and convenience of getting a cab home made the experience really enjoyable.
On a similar vein, I ended up taking a cab home on Sunday night. That was a far less pleasant experience. The cabbie got lost on the way, for exactly the reason I asked the dispatcher to warn him about, so I ended up waiting about forty-five minutes. Then I had to give directions, and then, on the highway, the cabbie mentioned his credit card machine was broken (an old scam warned about on the cab company's website). I didn't have enough cash to cover the $30 fare, so that was an issue. All in all? The night bus was only slightly worse. I'm going out right now to see if I can get Agni's bike rolling.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
My First Commute
I could blog at least once a week about how awesome my readers are and still not do you justice. It's hard to believe that anyone is interested in my life at all, especially when my day-to-day business is boring even to me. But hardly a post goes by that doesn't garner some encouragement or advice :)
In an appreciative attempt at not boring you to death, I try to avoid posting about the same subject four or five times in a row. But, since an anonymous friend asked how my new job is going...
It's pretty awesome. I'm still hitting the learning curve, which is frustrating after being in this industry for ten thousand years. And I haven't 100% come to terms with a slight hipsterific vibe the place exudes. But I feel pretty confident that I'll fit in fine with time and it will be really fun to spend a few years growing up with the company.
My only real complaint is the commute. Having never accepted a job more than a half hour walk from my house, traipsing across town six days a week drives me crazy. I'm only scheduled for five shifts a week, but I attend a weekly employee meeting on one of my days off.
So far this means an hour-long bus ride both ways. Fortunately, it's a really convenient trip with no transfers, and I'm dropped off within a couple of blocks from my house and workplace even when I don't get off work until one in the morning. Less fortunately, this costs me $2 on bus fare on top of the 2 hours spent catching up on my reading.
At first the commute was even worse because I neurotically added a half hour on my way to work by going to the bus stop that much earlier than necessary. Then, in the evenings, I somehow developed a pattern of barely missing the bus and having to wait another 45 minutes for the next one (they run less frequently at night). I'm training myself to be better on both counts.
On top of spending $12 and 12 hours a week just getting to and from work, my eating schedule has gotten completely out of whack and I've spent an absurd amount of money on food. Not only have my previous jobs been a fifteen minute walk away from my kitchen, but shifts were an average of five hours long and included a free shift meal. The pub does not offer free food to employees, although we do get a hefty discount that knocks most menu items down to about $4. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that when I hurry out to catch the bus (or sit at the stop for sixteen minutes), I'm not going to be home for another ten hours. Which means I need to eat more than a bowl of cereal beforehand and brown-bag a dinner.
So, for those of you keeping score at home, my commute costs $12 a week in terms of bus fare, $20 a week for food, and 12 hours a week traveling. If I was earning $12 an hour after taxes, working 40 hours a week, these expenses knock my Real Hourly Wage down to $8.62. And that's not even considering how much wind down time I need, not after work, but after the awful experience of riding the bus through downtown at two in the morning.
Happily enough, these expenses are easily prevented. Manning up and packing food is the most obvious solution, Darling's actually done this for me a few times already. I just need to develop a routine of not leaving the house without a meal.
I also need to change my transport habits. The downtown train station is less than a ten minute bike ride from my house, which will reduce my commute to work by half on the weekdays. In the evenings I will have no problem coasting home: the downhill route is paved with bike paths and will probably get me home at least fifteen minutes earlier than the bus. On Saturday and Sunday I'll be stuck with the bus on my way to work, but I can still bike home. By only taking the metro one way, I'll save a dollar per trip. By making these changes, I should only pay $6 a week in fares and spend no more than 9.5 hours commuting. At the same time, cycling home will replace my most-hated experience of dealing with drunk people on the bus with my absolute favorite indulgence: riding my bike at night.
If you're wondering why I haven't been doing this already (the bike thing, not the food thing, there's no excuse for that), the answer is that I've been too busy working. Happy as Mimi is to share her bike with me, she wants us both to give it a break until we get it to the shop for a much needed tune-up. Neither of us have had time to run this errand. Ages ago I decided to start using Agni's street bike, but it also desperately needs some TLC. Also, if I'm going to be riding across town every night, the time has come to invest in a helmet and more lights. And the time for investing comes when I get my first paycheck in June.
In an appreciative attempt at not boring you to death, I try to avoid posting about the same subject four or five times in a row. But, since an anonymous friend asked how my new job is going...
It's pretty awesome. I'm still hitting the learning curve, which is frustrating after being in this industry for ten thousand years. And I haven't 100% come to terms with a slight hipsterific vibe the place exudes. But I feel pretty confident that I'll fit in fine with time and it will be really fun to spend a few years growing up with the company.
My only real complaint is the commute. Having never accepted a job more than a half hour walk from my house, traipsing across town six days a week drives me crazy. I'm only scheduled for five shifts a week, but I attend a weekly employee meeting on one of my days off.
So far this means an hour-long bus ride both ways. Fortunately, it's a really convenient trip with no transfers, and I'm dropped off within a couple of blocks from my house and workplace even when I don't get off work until one in the morning. Less fortunately, this costs me $2 on bus fare on top of the 2 hours spent catching up on my reading.
At first the commute was even worse because I neurotically added a half hour on my way to work by going to the bus stop that much earlier than necessary. Then, in the evenings, I somehow developed a pattern of barely missing the bus and having to wait another 45 minutes for the next one (they run less frequently at night). I'm training myself to be better on both counts.
On top of spending $12 and 12 hours a week just getting to and from work, my eating schedule has gotten completely out of whack and I've spent an absurd amount of money on food. Not only have my previous jobs been a fifteen minute walk away from my kitchen, but shifts were an average of five hours long and included a free shift meal. The pub does not offer free food to employees, although we do get a hefty discount that knocks most menu items down to about $4. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that when I hurry out to catch the bus (or sit at the stop for sixteen minutes), I'm not going to be home for another ten hours. Which means I need to eat more than a bowl of cereal beforehand and brown-bag a dinner.
So, for those of you keeping score at home, my commute costs $12 a week in terms of bus fare, $20 a week for food, and 12 hours a week traveling. If I was earning $12 an hour after taxes, working 40 hours a week, these expenses knock my Real Hourly Wage down to $8.62. And that's not even considering how much wind down time I need, not after work, but after the awful experience of riding the bus through downtown at two in the morning.
Happily enough, these expenses are easily prevented. Manning up and packing food is the most obvious solution, Darling's actually done this for me a few times already. I just need to develop a routine of not leaving the house without a meal.
I also need to change my transport habits. The downtown train station is less than a ten minute bike ride from my house, which will reduce my commute to work by half on the weekdays. In the evenings I will have no problem coasting home: the downhill route is paved with bike paths and will probably get me home at least fifteen minutes earlier than the bus. On Saturday and Sunday I'll be stuck with the bus on my way to work, but I can still bike home. By only taking the metro one way, I'll save a dollar per trip. By making these changes, I should only pay $6 a week in fares and spend no more than 9.5 hours commuting. At the same time, cycling home will replace my most-hated experience of dealing with drunk people on the bus with my absolute favorite indulgence: riding my bike at night.
If you're wondering why I haven't been doing this already (the bike thing, not the food thing, there's no excuse for that), the answer is that I've been too busy working. Happy as Mimi is to share her bike with me, she wants us both to give it a break until we get it to the shop for a much needed tune-up. Neither of us have had time to run this errand. Ages ago I decided to start using Agni's street bike, but it also desperately needs some TLC. Also, if I'm going to be riding across town every night, the time has come to invest in a helmet and more lights. And the time for investing comes when I get my first paycheck in June.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Truck Update
I wasn't planning about following up on The Truck issue today, but considering even lovely Beany took the time, it might be appropriate.
I'm not going to accept the truck. I think that Aldra is very correct about the benefits of allowing others to be generous, and 99.9% of the time this is the right thing to do. At the same time, sometimes gifts have to be turned down. Not just for the sake of principles and beliefs (though those are good reasons), but for the good of social relations, if that makes any sense. My Mom and I are still sore - Lizzie is right about how royally screwed I got last Summer - and trying to buy each other off with ridiculous gifts is not a good way for us to heal. I need to make an effort to bond with my Mom outside the realm of material goods. Especially goods that would complicate my life tremendously.
As at least one reader pointed out, even if the financial burden of the truck were removed, I would have to deal with the constant temptation to drive it. Some people are not lazy enough to fall for that temptation. I have only met a few people who owned a vehicle and a bike and took the bike everywhere. I am not as awesome as them.
After giving immediately into temptation, and having to deal with the associated guilt and justification, I would find myself in the most frustrating of human inventions: traffic. Oh, how I hate traffic. I hate how it makes everyone late and grumpy and makes the entire city hot and smelly. No wonder people yammer on their cell phones and stuff drive through food down their throats to get through it, no matter people have the time to develop absurd right leaning opinions as they sit stewing in a hell of their own making.
And then I would get fat. I seriously gain weight every time I see a truck. I could eat all the croissants in the world if four-wheel drive did not exist. This is partially genetics, my family tree looks more like a potato patch. But why give genetics a helping hand?
All that said, remove the frustration of (hypothetically) owning a truck and the frustration of not owning a truck remains. Graham pointed out the possibility of getting a Zipcar account. That would cost me $75 the first year, and a $50 yearly renewal fee. Then $8-$9 an hour to drive or a $66+ daily fee. That includes gas, mileage, and insurance (which might not be great).
Aldra points out that this is more expensive than renting a car. I wouldn't know, as my every attempt at renting a car has failed as a result of not having a credit card. Except the moving truck a couple of years ago, which I would have been willing to pay twice the cost of if it hadn't been such a hassle. I'm not saying Zipcar is the best company ever, and I'm not signing up today, but I am going to do more research. Zipcar looks like the best option on the table.
...And this time? As opposed to all the others? I mean it about research. I've seriously been studying lately. More on that later.
I'm not going to accept the truck. I think that Aldra is very correct about the benefits of allowing others to be generous, and 99.9% of the time this is the right thing to do. At the same time, sometimes gifts have to be turned down. Not just for the sake of principles and beliefs (though those are good reasons), but for the good of social relations, if that makes any sense. My Mom and I are still sore - Lizzie is right about how royally screwed I got last Summer - and trying to buy each other off with ridiculous gifts is not a good way for us to heal. I need to make an effort to bond with my Mom outside the realm of material goods. Especially goods that would complicate my life tremendously.
As at least one reader pointed out, even if the financial burden of the truck were removed, I would have to deal with the constant temptation to drive it. Some people are not lazy enough to fall for that temptation. I have only met a few people who owned a vehicle and a bike and took the bike everywhere. I am not as awesome as them.
After giving immediately into temptation, and having to deal with the associated guilt and justification, I would find myself in the most frustrating of human inventions: traffic. Oh, how I hate traffic. I hate how it makes everyone late and grumpy and makes the entire city hot and smelly. No wonder people yammer on their cell phones and stuff drive through food down their throats to get through it, no matter people have the time to develop absurd right leaning opinions as they sit stewing in a hell of their own making.
And then I would get fat. I seriously gain weight every time I see a truck. I could eat all the croissants in the world if four-wheel drive did not exist. This is partially genetics, my family tree looks more like a potato patch. But why give genetics a helping hand?
All that said, remove the frustration of (hypothetically) owning a truck and the frustration of not owning a truck remains. Graham pointed out the possibility of getting a Zipcar account. That would cost me $75 the first year, and a $50 yearly renewal fee. Then $8-$9 an hour to drive or a $66+ daily fee. That includes gas, mileage, and insurance (which might not be great).
Aldra points out that this is more expensive than renting a car. I wouldn't know, as my every attempt at renting a car has failed as a result of not having a credit card. Except the moving truck a couple of years ago, which I would have been willing to pay twice the cost of if it hadn't been such a hassle. I'm not saying Zipcar is the best company ever, and I'm not signing up today, but I am going to do more research. Zipcar looks like the best option on the table.
...And this time? As opposed to all the others? I mean it about research. I've seriously been studying lately. More on that later.
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